The Arabs: A History by Eugene Rogan – review

Friday 18 March 2011 20.05 EDT
First published on Friday 18 March 2011 20.05 EDT

Events in the Arab world have rather overtaken this magnificent history, although in a prescient epilogue Rogan does say that "If the Arab peoples are to enjoy human rights and accountable government, security and economic growth, they will have to seize the initiative themselves." A major theme of this book is that Arabs have for too long been subordinate to the rule of others, from the Ottomans to the Europeans, then the US and USSR, and, most recently, America alone. But all that is changing now, and there can be few books better than this one to put in context the ongoing protests throughout the Middle East. Today the "Arab malaise" – a profound disenchantment among Arab citizens with their corrupt and authoritarian governments, diagnosed by the murdered journalist Samir Kassir – seems to have found expression on the streets. But we can only hope that Rogan is mistaken when he bluntly observes that "In any free and fair election in the Arab world today, I believe the Islamists would win hands down."